


just tell me it's real

by theinvadersmustdie



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Art, College, Cuddling and Snuggling, Cute, Dating, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Humor, Intoxication, Kissing, LGBTQ Themes, Love, M/M, Modern AU, Modern Era, Safe For Work, Self Esteem Issues, Slice of Life, Some Swearing, adult sora and riku, art student sora, english major riku, fake dating au, fake relationship turned real, honestly big mood, light blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-03-10 03:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18930643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinvadersmustdie/pseuds/theinvadersmustdie
Summary: I know, love's always been sink or swim soI won't say it's over just as it beginsSo, tell me it's real(Just tell me it's real)-Soriku fake dating shenanigans!





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for checking this out! It'll be a very short prologue, but don't worry, there's more to come! (especially about this scene in particular.) Just setting up the story for ya'll! Hope you enjoy! <3

**Sora**

 

“Sora! Is this your new boyfriend?” Xion asks Sora, grabbing his arm lightly. Sora whips around and immediately grabs Riku’s hand to bring it to his chest.

“Yes! Yeah, we haven’t been together that long, me and Riku, but I’m loving every day of it.” He looks up at Riku, who’s sporting a strained smile. Sora nudges him playfully and chuckles. “He’s just so… wonderful for supporting me.” Sora squeezes his hand and looks back to Xion.

“Well, you two are super cute. Tell me more about your piece.”

“Oh! Thank you! Yeah, this piece was more abstract than anything. It mostly represents how I felt at the beginning of the semester.” He chuckles and drones on for a bit about the meaning of his art piece. Riku places a hand on Sora’s back and presses his fingertips hard into it, not catching anyone’s attention

“Excuse us for a minute,” Sora smiles warmly and pulls Riku off to the side. Riku follows him to the back corner of the gymnasium away from the rest of the crowd. Riku leans close to Sora when they stop in place.

“What the hell was that?” He hisses, pulling his hand away.

“I panicked?” Sora shrugs while laughing a bit. When Riku doesn’t laugh back, Sora’s shoulders drop and he sighs deeply.

“Look, I’m sorry. Can we at least pretend for tonight?” 

“What makes you think I’d be willing to play along?” Riku growls.

“Please, Riku… be my boyfriend for the night. At least until we get home,” Sora pleads, bringing his hands in a prayer position.

“Sora, this is bad. Even for you,” Riku mutters. “Why do you feel a need to lie to everyone?”

“This is the first night anyone has ever paid attention to me or my work. When they see me with someone like you, they see me as… more important, I guess? I don’t know, but please… do this for me? I’ll pay you back,” Sora whines, grabbing Riku’s hand. This time, Riku doesn’t pull away. Riku sighs and uses his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. 

“Fine. But we’re talking about this later.”

“You just gotta be convincing!” Sora lets his laughter die out when Riku refuses to look at him. They walk forward, hand in hand, to the rest of the class art exhibit. Sora waves excitedly at another art student.

“Oh, hey, Sora! So Xion was telling me about Riku here and your piece for the exhibit. It all sounds really interesting,” he smiles, putting a hand on Sora’s shoulder. Sora beams and goes on to say, “Yeah, I really appreciate that!”

 

“So, how did you two meet?”


	2. chapter one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> local gays become roommates!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Welcome to the first official chapter of this fake dating au! Thank you so much for being patient with this update and for reading. <3

**Riku**

 

_ Only a month had gone by before the day his roommate interrupted his peaceful existence since the start of classes. Riku had just begun his sophomore year at Destiny Islands University as an English major. His last one hadn’t worked out since he dropped out within a week of the start of classes. When Riku went off to college, the thing he had looked forward to the least was the idea of having a roommate - a lifetime of sharing a room with his siblings and even as an adult, he still wasn’t going to be free. Riku’s world was turned completely upside down when he was assigned Sora as his new roommate. Sure, before Sora, it wasn’t the most thrilling of existences, but it was at least quiet, peaceful.  _

_ The day Sora showed up was like any other day; Riku’s morning Banned Books class was cancelled and he had spent most of the early morning tidying up the apartment. Riku was never one to let it get too messy, since he cleaned regularly. He had been told that his new roommate would show up that morning.  _

 

_ It was late afternoon before he actually arrived. _

 

Riku hears a rapid knock at the door, startling him from reading his book. He is reading it for class, but at the sudden sound, he slides a bookmark into the scene he’s on and stands up to answer the door. He opens the door and looks down at his new surprisingly shoulder-height roommate.

“Hi! I’m Sora!” Sora offers his hand in front of him, a grin which would shine if it were any wider.

Riku pauses before chuckling a little, “Uh, hey! I’m Riku.” He goes to shake Sora’s hand to find that he has more of a grip than he expected. They shake for a few seconds too long and quickly pull their hands back. Sora rubs the back of his neck and awkwardly laughs.

“Hey, so, do you care to help me carry some boxes in? Those stairs are a nightmare…” he trails off when he meets Riku’s eyes. 

Riku breaks eye contact to look behind Sora. He had already brought up a few bags, a backpack and a gym bag. Who knows how much he actually packed.

“Yeah, yeah, sure!” Riku finds himself grinning widely.

“Great!” Sora squints when he smiles and starts to lead the way.

 

_ Things quickly proved to be not so great. _

 

_ Riku quickly found, in the time span of a few weeks, that Sora was an exceptionally bad roommate. Where his living habits lacked in decency, Sora made up for it by being incredibly sweet. It was increasingly difficult to not say anything to him until one day, Riku broke. _

 

“You  _ killed  _ my cactus, which is  _ practically  _ indestructible, but you still managed to do so!” Riku huffs, holding the rotted, dead plant in his hands. 

“I’m sorry! All I did was water it!”

“Obviously too much…” Riku sighs and goes to dump it before he sees an already overwhelmingly full bag of trash in the can.

“ _ And  _ you didn’t take out the trash?”

“... I forgot?” Sora shrugs, giggling slightly.

“This isn’t funny! You know, I’ve put up with a lot from you and I’m getting really aggravated,” Riku growls.

“I’m really sorry, honest! I promise I’ll do better.”

”Just… go to the store. I have a list of things I need you to pick up. You drank the last Gatorade, so I’ll spare you long enough to go get more,” Riku mutters, rubbing his temples.

“O-Okay! I will!” Sora smiles nervously before jumping to his feet. Riku texts him the list and Sora makes note to check his phone before he grabs the keys off of the counter. 

“I’ll be right back!” Sora waves quickly and closes the door.

 

Sora comes back quickly with a few bags thrown over his shoulder and sets them down in the kitchen. He goes to sit down on the couch once Riku stands up to examine the bags, but is immediately met with a hand gripping his shoulder.

“Did you completely ignore the list?” Riku says coldly.

“N-No! I looked at it!” Sora nods his head frantically.

“But did you  _ follow  _ it?”

“... Yes?”

Riku grips his shoulder tighter before he goes to open one of the bags. Cans of soup roll onto the counter and one falls to the floor. Riku looks through another bag to find packets of ramen and granola bars.

“Buying nothing but canned soup and granola bars doesn’t count as grocery shopping!” Riku raises his voice, clearly aggravated. “Do we even have toilet paper?”

“Okay, I  _ may  _ have overlooked some items-“

Riku walks by Sora and slumps onto the couch. He throws his head back and groans. “Sora, please, just… go back and get what you missed.”

“... Fine,” Sora mutters. He adds an, “I’m sorry,” as quiet as he can muster as he grabs the keys.

“Sora.” Riku says under his breath. Sora turns around and braces for impact.

“I’m sorry, I could have been a little nicer,” Riku says, meeting Sora’s eyes. They have definitely begun to water, shining in the light from the lamp in the living room.

_ It’s difficult to scold him without feeling... bad about it.  _

  
  


**Sora**

 

Sora plays with the keys nestled in his palm as he sits in the driveway, trying to figure out why he is like this. He doesn’t mean to be a nuisance; he just gets carried away and he’s forgetful at times. And sometimes he kills plants accidentally. And sometimes he ignores the rules. But no reason to be hard on himself, right? There is something weirdly captivating about how Riku fusses at him, almost attractive. He runs his fingers over where Riku had gripped his shoulder before shaking his head. He starts the car for the second grocery trip today, music blasting through the speakers. He pulls out of the lot and heads to the store.

 

-

 

“Guess what I bought?” Sora playfully asks, shutting the apartment door behind him.

“More shampoo?” Riku scoffs from the couch.

“Uh… no.  _ But  _ I bought wine!”

“Aren’t you only 18?”

“I have my ways.”

Riku throws an arm over the couch and Sora runs to the kitchen. He raises his voice, “Do we have anything that could open a bottle of wine?”

“You can always use the shoe trick.”

“The what? No, I’m using a knife!”

This sends Riku flying off the couch and towards the kitchen. “Sora, no, you’ll hurt yourself.”

“I’ll be fine.” Sora smiles and plunges the knife into the cork, using the serrated edge to start pulling the cork out. Riku sighs and holds the bottle for him. Sora wrestles the knife into the cork and struggles to pull it out, but manages to do so.

“There we go!” Sora laughs and goes to pull the cork off the knife without looking. He manages to slice his palm open and he lets the knife clatter onto the countertop. He winces in pain and goes to hold his hand, trying to stop the bleeding. 

“Oh, shit,” Riku gasps before reaching for a hand towel hanging off the oven door. He quickly wraps it around Sora’s hand and presses down on the cut with his hand. Sora whines slightly and tries to avoid looking directly at the blood seeping through the cloth. Riku gestures towards the sink and goes to wash Sora’s cut under the water. Blood pools into the sink as Sora’s feels nausea creep up his throat from his stomach. He staggers backwards into Riku who wraps his free arm around his waist. Riku wraps his hand again with the cloth.

“H-Here, let’s go sit down.” Riku gestures towards the couch and gently pulls Sora down to a seat. Sora squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a shaky breath through pursed lips. 

“I-I’m fine, I’m okay,” Sora trembles, squeezing his hand. Riku places his hand on top of Sora’s. 

“You sure? You might need stitches if it keeps bleeding.”

“Nah, I’m sure it’s okay!” Sora smiles weakly before wincing again. 

“Let’s just sit here for a bit and see if the bleeding stops,” Riku says, squeezing Sora’s hand lightly. 

Sora bows his head when he feels a red hot blush spread over his cheeks. Riku and Sora sit in silence, letting it build and build. The sounds of cars passing by the apartments and dogs barking echo in Sora’s ears as his heartbeat pounds. After what seems like an eternity of waiting, Riku slowly unwraps the makeshift bandage to check on his wound. Sora remains speechless as Riku gently runs his fingers over the wound. The bleeding has slowed down a bit; Riku places the cloth back over it and goes to the bathroom. He rifles through the cabinets until he finds a roll of bandages. He tenderly wraps Sora’s hand with careful precision. The nausea starts to consume Sora as he notices the blood stained rag on Riku’s thigh. His eyes start to trail before he hangs his head and takes a deep breath, trying to think of anything besides the blood, amongst other things.

“You doing better?” Riku asks, concerned.

“What? Y-Yeah, I’m okay,” Sora shakily exhales.

“Good. What were you planning to do with the wine anyway?”

“I was, uh, going to have a sip n’ paint night...” Sora trails off, chuckling. 

“Can you still do that now that your hand is bandaged?”

“Should be able to.” Sora runs his hand over the bandage. “Would you wanna join?” Sora looks up to smile at Riku.

 

**Riku**

 

“Uh… y-yeah, sure!” Riku smiles kindly. Sora walks over to his crate of art supplies behind the couch. He brings over a plastic container filled with bottles and tubes of paint in a variety of bright colors. He also rolls out a fabric case packed with brushes of all different sizes and shapes. Riku stands and goes to the kitchen to grab two glasses, only to realize that they are underage and of  _ course  _ they wouldn’t have wine glasses. He chuckles and grabs two solo cups instead. He pours the wine into both cups and places them on the floor. He drags the table out of the way so that they can both sit on the floor with their canvases, which Sora had drug out of his bedroom. Riku observes his blank canvas and Sora gets out two artist palettes to mix their paint in. 

“I-I’ve never painted before. Or any sort of art thing,” Riku rubs the back of his neck.

“Oh, really? That’s alright! It’ll be so much fun!” Sora beams and hands Riku a palette with misshapen blobs of paint placed around the edges. Sora takes a big sip of wine and stares at his canvas. He dips his brush into a bright pink color and swipes it across the canvas, filling it with the color.

“So, what do I do?” Riku asks curiously.

“What? You just… paint!” Sora exclaims with his hands, definitely splattering small flecks of paint onto the floor. “Oops, probably should have put something down.

“Please. We’re not getting our deposit back with you living here.”

Sora huffs, “Hey!”

Riku laughs and dips his brush into a cool purple paint. He slowly pulls it across the canvas with careful precision. He fills the top half of the painting with the color before he grabs some tan paint to line the lower half. Sora’s abstract art knows no boundaries as he slaps on a bright green color on his canvas. Riku finds himself staring at Sora’s artistic process and stops painting his canvas. Sora paints strange light blue and yellow streaks before using a stamp to place little white dots around the piece. There is something strangely attractive about how messy he is, his lips parted slightly and his disheveled hair falling in front of his face. He pushes it away with his free hand and takes another sip of wine. He finally notices Riku’s stare and he glances at Riku’s painting. He gasps slightly and grabs Riku’s arm.

“Riku! You’re doing so well. Those colors are so pretty!”

Riku considers how he just picked the colors randomly and that he wasn’t going for anything specific, but he can admit that it goes well together. He isn’t ready to tell him that he’s wrong. He smiles warmly at Sora.

 

“Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! I really appreciate every single one of you and I hope you enjoyed. Comments and kudos are highly, HIGHLY appreciated! Chapter Two is coming soon! <3 <3 <3


	3. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sora struggles to find a guest for his art class expo!

**Sora**

 

Sora loves his art courses, but sometimes they’re such a drag. He finds himself struggling to keep his eyes open and uses all of his remaining energy to suppress the multiple yawns threatening to escape. The fluorescent lighting has been shut off, so the darkness made it easy to doze off. Sora and Riku spent most of the night laughing and throwing paint at each other once their paintings were finished. Being with Riku and him not yelling at Sora was a dream in itself. The slam of a locker outside startles Sora awake. He clicks his pen and continues to take notes, obsessively clicking his pen again and again once he’s finished with the line. He runs his hand over the smooth desktop and scratches his pen in the margin of his paper, doodling. One of his many art teachers is standing at the front of the room with a laser pointer directed towards a painting on the screen.

“To sum it up, the artist of this surrealistic painting uses his colors and composition to bring out visual illusions and abstract figures similar to those found in some of the world’s renowned artists, such as Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. This is one of the many that’s going to be on our next exam, so take careful note of how this piece was made and the history of this artist.”

 

Sora’s heart freezes when he hears it.

 

“Now, some news. Our mid-semester art exhibit is coming up and it is _required_ that you bring a guest. Your midterm grade is based on participation and your individual piece or pieces for the exhibit. Failure to bring someone will dock half of the points for your final midterm grade.”

 

_Shit. Shit shit shit._

 

Sora brings his hands to his face and lets out a small groan, bringing his head to the table. How is he supposed to find someone actually _interested_ in the fine arts?

The class ends and students start to zip up their backpacks and head out the door. Sora keeps his head on the table, hands raised in a ‘why me?’ position.

“You good?” Kairi nudges Sora with her hand.

“No…” Sora whines. “I don’t have anyone who can go with me.”

“Man, I wish we could just invite other students in class,” Kairi laughs, nudging him again. “What about your roommate?”

Sora feels a blush spread across his cheeks and stutters, “W-What do you mean ‘my roommate’?”

“Couldn’t he come? I’m sure he’d have a good time.”

Sora groans and thinks about how he could even ask him, after everything he’s done wrong. Might as well get it over with.

 

**Riku**

 

“But why do you want me to go?” Riku insists.

“I don’t necessarily _want_ anyone to go, Riku. It’s required and you’re the only one I have outside of class. Please,” Sora pleads.

Riku ponders for a moment, looking down at the floor of their apartment. He presses his lips tight and glances back up at Sora to meet his bright, blue eyes. Sora smiles slightly and Riku chuckles to himself.

“Sure, why not?”

 

_How bad can it be?_

 

-

 

Sora and Riku arrive early so that Sora can put his pieces on display. Riku helps him carry a large canvas in and Sora carries a small sculpture in the palms of his hands. Sora lays down his backpack and pulls out a folded up easel. He sets it up and takes the canvas from Riku to set it down on display.

“Oh! Hold on,” Sora exclaims, before grabbing a small piece of paper from his backpack. He quickly folds it in half and scribbles his name and the name of his piece. He sits it on the table next to the piece.

“‘Vogue in Two’? Sounds neat.” Riku affirms.

Sora sports a dopey smile and chuckles, “Thanks. I only named it like this because I thought it sounded smart.”

Riku laughs and pats the back of Sora’s shoulder.

“It does.”

 

People start to pour into the gymnasium, each with their own pieces and guests. Someone helping run the event plugs in string lights that adorn the walls and tables. The overhead lights are low as people mutter and quietly laugh along with each other over drinks. Riku follows Sora around out of fear of someone else asking him a question about art that he wouldn’t know the answer to to save his life. He smiles awkwardly at groups of people who smile and wave towards the two of them. He hears numerous giggling and murmurs amongst the small crowd. Confused, he stays closer to Sora, trying not to worry about what others are saying. A girl walks up to Sora and taps his shoulder.

 

**Sora**

 

“Oh, hey Xion!” Sora smiles.

“Sora! Is this your new boyfriend?” Xion asks Sora, grabbing his arm lightly.

 

_Shit._

 

Panic sets in Sora’s mind as his heartbeat is like gunshots in his ears. He whips around and immediately grabs Riku’s hand to bring it to his chest.

 

“Yes! Yeah, we haven’t been together that long, me and Riku, but I’m loving every day of it.” He looks up at Riku, who’s sporting a strained smile. Sora nudges him playfully and chuckles. “He’s just so… wonderful for supporting me.” Sora squeezes his hand affirmingly and looks back to Xion.

 

_Please please PLEASE go along with it._

 

“Well, you two are super cute. Tell me more about your piece.”

“Oh! Thank you! Yeah, this piece was more abstract than anything. It mostly represents how I felt at the beginning of the semester,” he chuckles and drones on for a bit about the meaning of his sculpture. Riku places a hand on Sora’s back and presses his fingertips hard into it, not catching anyone’s attention. Sora flinches and inhales sharply.

“Excuse us for a minute,” Sora smiles lightly and pulls Riku off to the side. Riku follows him to the back corner of the gymnasium away from the rest of the crowd. Riku leans close to Sora when they stop in place.

“What the hell was that?” He hisses, pulling his hand away.

“I panicked?” Sora shrugs while laughing a bit. When Riku doesn’t laugh back, Sora’s shoulders drop and he sighs deeply.

“Look, I’m sorry. Can we at least pretend for tonight?”

“What makes you think I’d be willing to play along?” Riku growls.

“Please, Riku… be my boyfriend for the night. At least until we get home,” Sora pleads, bringing his hands in a prayer position.

“Sora, this is bad. Even for you,” Riku mutters. “Why do you feel a need to lie to everyone?”

“This is the first night anyone has ever paid attention to me or my work. When they see me with someone like you, they see me as… more important, I guess? I don’t know, but please… do this for me? I’ll pay you back,” Sora whines, grabbing Riku’s hand.

 

_Please, do this for me. I know I’ve been terrible, but I promise I’ll change._

 

This time, Riku doesn’t pull away. Riku sighs and uses his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Fine. But we’re talking about this later.”

“You just gotta be convincing!” Sora lets his laughter die out when Riku refuses to look at him. They walk forward, hand in hand, to the rest of the class art exhibit. Sora waves excitedly at another art student who’s talking with Xion.

“Oh, hey, Sora! So Xion was telling me about Riku here and your piece for the exhibit. It all sounds really interesting,” he smiles, putting a hand on Sora’s shoulder. Sora beams and goes on to say, “Yeah, I really appreciate that!”

 

“So, how did you two meet?”

 

**Riku**

 

“Oh, hey Xion!” Sora smiles in a dorky fashion. Xion looks over at Riku, smiles, and grabs Sora’s arm lightly.

“Sora! Is this your new boyfriend?”

Riku suppresses a laugh before Sora grabs ahold of his hand to bring it to his chest. Riku presses his lips together and waits to see what he says.

”Yes! Yeah, we haven’t been together that long, me and Riku, but I’m loving every day of it.”

_What the hell…?_

Sora looks up at him with pleading eyes and Riku strains to smile. Sora nudges him playfully and chuckles to himself.

“He’s just so… wonderful for supporting me.”

He squeezes Riku’s hand affirmingly and Riku squeezes back.

_I guess we’re really doing this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient with this upload! The next chapter is coming soon, so keep an eye out. Comments and kudos are HIGHLY appreciated. <3
> 
> (Also, I just finished reading the All For the Game series and I’m IN LOVE. I’m working on an AU for it now in between chapters. <3)


	4. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This part was definitely inspired by “To All the Boys I Loved Before” and all credit goes towards them because I did directly reference a scene from it. <3 <3

**Riku**

 

“Well, I was Riku’s new roommate about two months ago, still new to the school and all and...” Sora trails off before squeezing Riku’s hand, pleading him to finish. Riku clears his throat.

“I just found myself falling for this nerdy art kid. I’ve always been drawn to him ever since he moved in.”

Sora looks up at Riku with a jaw breaking grin. His eyes widen and he turns back to Xion, not hiding his embarrassment well.

“Y-Yeah! He’s such a big sweetie. We’ve only been together for a few weeks, but it’s been going so swimmingly.”

“That’s adorable! Me and Namine were the same way. We’ve been together for about a year now,” Xion nods her head, smiling.

“So cute!” Sora exclaims, bringing Riku closer to him. Riku wraps an arm around Sora and points towards his canvas. It’s a bright blue-ish green with streaks of pastel colors splashed around the center of it, and it takes Riku a moment to realize it’s the same painting from their night together. That night it looked more like he was just slapping colors on, but the end result now is beautifully abstract. Sora is notorious for doing his art assignments at the very last minute.

“Tell them what this one is about, honey,” Riku says, trying not to sound too fake. Sora gasps slightly and walks over with Riku to the painting.

“It’s called Vogue in Two! This is my frontmost piece for the art exhibit and my entry for the contest the art department is holding. The winner of the contest gets to host their own personal art exhibit right here on campus. All of the proceeds go towards developing the art department.”

The small crowd that has encircled the two nod and hum in agreement. Students and teachers alike pull Sora aside to speak with him about his work and his new boyfriend. Riku’s never seen Sora get this much attention in one day, let alone ever. Not that Riku was out in public with Sora much, but Sora always seemed to keep to himself. He never reached out to hang with friends or went to parties or anything. He always seemed content with alone time with himself in the apartment. But Riku can clearly see that Sora thrives in this kind of setting.

“What are you going to apply your art degree towards?”

He laughs and wraps an arm around Riku. “I’m really wanting to be an art teacher with some freelance on the side. I already do the freelancing now in school, so I don’t think it’d be a problem outside of it, especially once I’m more well known.” He smiles and looks up at Riku, who looks incredibly uncomfortable.

“Tonight has been great, but I think we’re going to head out. We have a small date night planned,” Sora chuckles, putting his sculpture in a small bag. 

“Oooh, what are you planning?” Xion nudges Sora. 

He throws his backpack over his shoulder. “Uh… what  _ did  _ we have planned, honey?”

“We were just going out for dinner and staying in the rest of the night. We’re simple people,” Riku laughs a little too loudly. Sora laughs with him and squeezes his arm lightly. 

“That’s adorable. Have fun! See you later, Sora.” Xion says, half hugging him before she walks off. Sora and Riku say their goodbyes and Riku waits until they’re outside to speak.

“Okay, that was fine and all, but this can’t go on,” Riku mutters, checking around him to see if anyone else is outside.

Sora looks around and whispers, “Why not? It went so well!”

Riku turns around and puts his hands on Sora’s shoulders. 

“Sora, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“No strings attached! Can’t we just pretend until the semester is over?” Sora pleads.

Riku stands in silence, thinking about all of the ways he can decline. But then he meets Sora’s eyes and sighs deeply. How can he say no to that face?

“Fine. Until the end of the semester, so just two months.”

“Then we’re finished and can just go back to being roommates!” Sora exclaims, nudging Riku’s shoulder.

“Yeah, uh huh,” Riku mutters, nudging Sora back.

  
  


**Sora**

 

“First things first: we have to have a contract so we’re on the same page about the rules.” He quickly adds, “Also, so I don’t overstep.”

Riku scrunches up his nose. “I get that, but… rules?”

“We have to set boundaries and see how we stand on certain issues!” Sora exclaims.

“Okay… like what?”

“We can never tell anyone that this relationship is fake.”

“Duh. First rule of Fight Club.”

“... huh?”

Riku flicks his fingers out and sighs, “Okay, second rule: you gotta watch Fight Club with me.”

“Noted…” Sora mutters, scribbles the next rule onto the list.

“I expect you to really step up on chores and tasks around the apartment. I don’t think that’s too much to ask considering how big of a favor this is,” Riku says, shrugging.

“O-Of course!” Sora’s face heats up out of embarrassment.

“You also have to come to my lacrosse games and parties, including the big banquet at the end of the season,” Riku says.

“And of course, you have to come to all of my art events,” Sora says, writing down the rules.

“Yeah, of course!”

“And no secrets!” Sora says, holding a finger to his lips. “We gotta stay honest with each other.”

Sora finishes writing down the last of the rules and pushes it across the kitchen counter towards Riku to sign. Riku scrawls his signature at the bottom of the page and passes it back to Sora to sign. Sora outstretches his hand after signing his artistic signature, beaming. Riku chuckles before shaking his hand, feeling a grin spread across his face. Sora stands up from the bar and goes towards the living room. Riku grabs the collar of Sora’s shirt and hands him a pair of rubber gloves.

“Get your ass back in here, it’s your turn to do the dishes tonight,” Riku laughs. “You owe me, remember?”

“Riku! You know I have a project due tomorrow!”

“Well, you better get started then.” Riku laughs, setting the pile of dishes into the sink and off the counter.

Sora shoots a glare over his shoulder as Riku walks out of the kitchen. Sora pulls out his phone and turns the volume all the way up as he starts to play some of today’s hits. Riku jumps while walking back to the couch and turns around. Sora notices and rolls his eyes as he slips on the gloves. 

“Seriously?” Riku asks.

“What? I have to have music while I’m doing chores!”

Riku spreads his hands in a helpless gesture. “Keep it down, then,” He mutters, walking back to the couch. 

Sora turns down his phone by a little and sets it on the counter before getting to work on the mountain of dishes in the sink. Most of them are his, based on the amount of food caked onto the plates. Riku is too much of a clean freak to leave this mess behind. Sora sighs loudly, making sure Riku can hear him, and gets to work.

 

-

 

After the dishes are conquered, Sora lands on the couch with his controller, ignoring the assignment he is supposed to do. His favorite way to unwind outside of art is definitely casual gaming. He runs his thumb over the joystick and pulls up the main game menu. He settles in, throwing his legs over the arm of the couch.

Riku walks out of the bathroom, steam traveling to the ceiling of the living room. Sora looks behind him on the couch and immediately covers his eyes.

“ _ Riku! _ ” Sora shouts, his voice cracking. Riku stands there wrapped in a towel, water still dripping off his chest and legs. It takes him a second to realize Sora’s uneasiness and he laughs, putting a hand to his waist to keep the towel from falling.

“What, is there a problem?” He asks, still laughing.

“We are  _ not  _ on that level!” Sora yells again, still covering his eyes.

“Oh really? When do you think we will be, honeybun?” Riku questions sarcastically. 

“Shut up! Go to your room!” Sora commands, trying to suppress the blush creeping up his neck and face.

Riku walks to his room, laughing. Sora doesn’t uncover his eyes until he hears his door shut. He exhales shakily, bringing his hands away from his eyes. His mind wanders and he pulls out his phone to distract himself. After a while, Riku emerges from his room wearing his usual t-shirt and jeans combination.

“Hey, you wanna go to Axel’s house with me? We’re just getting a little study group together. Might be some drinking,” Riku adds playfully, “Would be good to introduce my new boyfriend.”

“Sure, I guess!” Sora smiles uncomfortably. The idea of being around Riku’s lacrosse friends makes his heart stop, but Riku had already done such a huge favor being there for his art event. Sora owes him after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks SO much for reading. Hope you all liked the little movie reference. (It’s one of my favorites!) The next chapter will be out soon. <3


	5. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! I’ve been INCREDIBLY busy with school and work and everything else. This story is mostly finished with the exception of a few edits and epilogue. I’ve also been working on other fics and kinda forgot about this one where it’s mostly finished. I hope you all understand! Thanks! <3

**Riku**

 

“You guys made it!” Axel exclaims before half hugging Riku. Riku wraps a free arm around him and goes to hold Sora’s hand.

“Hey! This is my boyfriend, Sora. Sora, this is Axel, one of our defenders.”

“Nice to meet you! Riku, you already know, but this is my partner, Roxas. He’s our best attacker.” 

The guy introduced as Roxas waves his hand slightly with a warm smile. 

“Hey, that’s being really generous. Heh, how are you guys?”

“It’s so nice to meet you all!” Sora exclaims, a little too loudly. Riku squeezes his hand to make sure he’s okay and he squeezes back. Riku leads the way into Axel’s apartment and notices Sora staying incredibly close to him. He never took Sora as a shy person, but maybe it was a different case around new people. Pretending to be in a relationship with him may also be putting stress on Sora. He looks back at him and smiles gently, letting him know that he didn’t have to be nervous. Sora smiles, a little more genuine this time, and follows Riku to the living room. They sit down on the floor in front of the couch and Axel pushes the coffee table out of the way. More people flood in, a little too big to be called a ‘study group’, and Riku introduces Sora to each of them. He notices Sora seemingly getting more comfortable as time goes on. 

“So, how did you two get together?” Axel asks, always being one for gossip and juicy stories. 

“Well, we were just so compatible as roommates and it just kinda… happened?” Sora shrugs, chuckling. Riku squeezes his hand a little too tightly and laughs with him, obviously trying to hide his embarrassment. “It was easy falling in love with this handsome guy.”

“Cute! Hey, we’re going to get some drinks. Want anything?” Roxas asks, pulling Axel to his feet.

“Sure! Just two beers, please,” Riku asks nicely.

Axel nods, making his way to the kitchen with Roxas.

“This is fun! Kinda like a romantic comedy,” Sora whispers when the two are out of sight and no one is paying attention.

“If this were a romantic comedy, we would have kissed by now,” Riku chuckles. Sora feels his face turn red and he shakes his head.

“Hang on, that’s not  _ my  _ fault!”

Riku huffs a sigh before Sora turns around to place a sloppy, wet kiss on the side of his face.

Riku smiles and mutters through his teeth, “What the  _ hell  _ was that?”

“I tried my best!” Sora hisses before looking around to see if anyone noticed. Riku grabs both of Sora’s hands and kisses him on the lips, slowly and gently. Riku feels his heart squeezing behind his rib cage and starts to feel light headed. He pushes in gently, wondering if Sora can hear his heart beating out of his chest. Riku pulls away and notices a few of his friends winking at him out of the corner of his eye. He nuzzles into Sora’s neck and whispers below his ear,

“See, you gotta make it look more real.”

Sora laughs awkwardly and pushes Riku away playfully. 

“Geez, babe, slow down.” He chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck. Riku raises an eyebrow before laughing along with him.

Terra sits down next to Riku and nudges him with his elbow.

“So, this is your new boyfriend, huh? Thanks for introducing me.”

“Oh! Hehe, sorry. Sora, this is Terra, our main goalie.”

“Hey! I don’t know that much about lacrosse yet, but I sorta know what a goalie is!” Sora exclaims, laughing awkwardly.

“Riku and I go way back, back to when we were kids!” Terra laughs, wrapping an arm around Riku’s neck. Riku playfully yells in protest and Terra squeezes tighter before ruffling his hair. Riku laughs and pushes him off. Sora laughs along and places a hand on Riku’s shoulder. Riku holds Sora’s hand and squeezes it lightly. Sora squeezes back. 

  
  


**Sora**

 

“You doing okay?” Riku shuts the door of the car and waits for Sora to get buckled in. “You seemed a little on edge when we first got there.”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. It  _ was  _ a little overwhelming, but I’m okay now.”

“You didn’t seem okay during that kiss,” Riku chuckles, starting to pull out of the driveway.

“I can’t help it that I’ve never kissed anyone before,” Sora admits accidentally, the words escaping him faster than he can stop them.

“... you’ve never kissed anyone?” Riku asks before turning towards Sora. “I was your first?”

“Well… yeah, there’s no use hiding it from you. No secrets, right?” Sora chuckles nervously, running a hand through his errant locks.

“I’m just… surprised, is all. Have you never had a boyfriend?”

Sora sits in silence, pulling on the hem of his tank top.

“Oh…” Riku trails off, driving in silence.

“It’s not that I didn’t want one, I just never found ‘the one’, y’know? Why waste my time if it doesn’t feel real?”

Another silence fills the air, stale and uncomfortable. This time, neither one of them breaks it.

 

-

 

Sora lays out his arsenal of art supplies in front of him. Riku’s laying on the couch with his book with the television humming quietly in the background. Sora grabs a handful of charcoal pencils and his drawing pad. He ponders for a moment, wondering what he could draw. The assignment was to draw something using charcoal, but there’s nothing in the apartment interesting enough. Unless…

“Hey, Riku?”

Riku looks up from his book at the first words Sora has said since the car ride home. “Yeah?”

“Can I draw you?”

Riku laughs and closes his book. “What?”

“No, no, you can keep reading! I just need some still life examples in my work and nothing else in the apartment is worth drawing.”

“So, you’re saying I am? Like I’m some sort of model?”

Sora’s face flares up and he brings up his drawing pad to his face as he turns to a blank page. “Can I?”

“Of course,” Riku affirms, before opening his book back up.

Sora nods and begins the drawing process, sketching out basic shapes along a balance line to represent Riku’s form with an H pencil. He uses it as a base for his sketch and starts on Riku’s head. He continuously finds himself staring a little too long at Riku, but it’s all in the name of art, of course. He continues down to his shoulders and arms, concentrating on his biceps. He never noticed how… fit he was from lacrosse. He shakes his head when Riku makes eye contact with him over his book. Riku chuckles to himself and continues reading. Sora finishes up the sketch, taking note to not focus on the lower half of the drawing as much. He goes over it with the charcoal, shading areas and making the lighter areas really pop against the background. He sighs and wipes at his forehead, leaving a grey smear across it. About an hour has passed and Sora finally sits his drawing pad down, taking a much needed break.

“Is it finished?” Riku asks, putting his bookmark into the chapter he’s on.

“Oh! N-Not yet but... do you wanna see?” Sora scrambles to show Riku his portrait. Riku carefully studies it before smiling heartily.

“Looks great! You made me look really handsome. Was that on purpose?” He laughs before handing back the drawing pad. 

Sora huffs and tries to hold back his laughter. “Hey, all I did was draw what I see.” 

_ Smooth, Sora. Smooth. _

 

-

 

Sora finds himself tossing and turning early the next morning, finding it desperately hard to fall back asleep. It’s a weekend, so he has the opportunity to sleep in, but he can’t. He groans softly and dramatically throws his blanket off of him before he sits up and stretches his arms, feeling and hearing a few pops and cracks. He sighs and swings his legs over the bed before stretching them out. Starting towards the kitchen, he yawns loudly before realizing that Riku is most likely still asleep. He tip toes down the hall past Riku’s room and opens the fridge. Sora looks for a bit before deciding what to have for breakfast. He sinks into the couch and turns on the television, keeping the volume low.

 

A voice comes from behind him. “Sora.”

Sora jumps in his seat and laughs, “Oh! You’re awake!”

“You’re eating my mango.”

Sora pauses. Somehow he already knew this, but he wasn’t about to let Riku win.

“It wasn’t even yours!” Sora exclaims.

“I claimed it! You said it was okay!”

“But you weren’t going to eat it anyway! You were just letting it sit there!” Sora waves his hands.

Riku claps his hands together and points them towards Sora, exhaling deeply. “I was  _ waiting  _ for the right moment!” Riku sighs loudly, “You  _ ate  _ my mango, and now you’re going to buy more,” Riku exclaims, chucking the car keys at Sora’s chest. 

“You don’t trust me with your mangoes, but you trust me with your car?” Sora chuckles while standing up and walking to the door.

“Go,” Riku growls.

“Bye, honey,” Sora says sarcastically before dodging a pillow that Riku throws towards him. He shuts the door behind him and pulls out his phone as he walks downstairs, trying to ignore the weird feelings that always bubble up when Riku nags him.

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! Especially if you came here from my pirate!au fic! I hope you all stick around for the next chapter! Comments and kudos are highly appreciated. <3 <3 <3


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